Richard Coughlan was a happy young man as he walked off the 18th green at the end of his second round in the Los Angeles Open at the Valencia Country Club yesterday.He had made the halfway cut for the third time in as many weeks on the US PGA tour, after shooting a second-round 72 for a 143 total. His score was three shots inside the cut-off point and it left him tied for 31st place seven shots behind Billy Mayfair who fired a 71 to add to his first round score of 65.Fellow Irishman, Keith Nolan, however, did not enjoy such a successful day, with his 77 leaving him out of the reckoning.Coughlan came out of the blocks yesterday like a thoroughbred, making birdies at the first and second to get to two under par and was among the top 25 on the course at that stage.He then bogied the par three third where he three putted and another shot was lost at the 422yard fourth. At the ninth he missed the fairway and dropped a further shot to leave him one over for his opening nine. However, he made two birdies over the next four holes to complete his 72."Gosh I'm shaking," he said, as he came off the 18th green. "I got off to a good start but at the third I hit it in the bunker and I had no chance from there. At the next I was a good 40 feet long and I three-putted."I became a bit upset with myself at that stage. I scraped some pars and then I missed the fairway at the 10th and missed a short putt for par. But I hung in there and made a couple of birdies at 12 and 15. I thought that two over was probably going to be the cut and I was relieved to make par at the 17th which gave me breathing space, with the last being a par five."Nolan completed a first-round 73 at dawn yesterday, after darkness had prevented two groups from finishing on Thursday evening. He then went straight back on the course and had a nightmare, similar to his third round in last week's Tucson Open. The Bray man had four bogeys and two doubles in his 77, his eightover-par 150 missing the cut by four shots.Nick Faldo, the defending champion, had a magnificent eagle three at the first hole, his 10th, and was able to add a second round 70 to his first round score of 73 to finish on 143, the same mark as Coughlan.